Promoting cultural understanding

Published 8:00 pm, Thursday, April 10, 2008

HURON COUNTY  For those who have never been to Australia, theyre likely to have some sort of preconceived notion of what the country may be like.

By STACY LANGLEY

HURON COUNTY  For those who have never been to Australia, theyre likely to have some sort of preconceived notion of what the country may be like.

Scenes from the 1986 and 2001 Crocodile Dundee movies showcased the desolate Australian Outback region of the country, but its a far cry from the reality of the entire country.

A local group of business professionals from Michigan were surprised to find many Aussies, too, have a preconceived misperception of the United States, thinking the U.S. in many cases is exactly like what they see on TV.

Working to bring awareness to other countries and cultures is a group known as Rotary International, a service organization with more than 1.2 million members worldwide who volunteer their time and talents to further the clubs motto, of service above self.

The group also hosts travels between countries to promote a better understanding of the human race in what the Rotary Foundation calls a Group Study Exchange Program.

Recently a group of Michigan business professionals had a chance to learn more not only about the Rotary club in America and how the group works, but to build friendships from one continent to another. The group also got a glimpse into the lives of Rotary members in far away Australia.

Rotary member Jeff Leipprandt, of Pigeon, was the groups team leader for the Group Study Exchange Program that traveled to Australia for four weeks in late February and early March.

Leipprandt said the only way a Rotarian like himself can participate in the Group Study Exchange is as a team leader.

All other team members have to be non-Rotarians, said Leipprandt who went on to explain other requirements of the program include the fact that members must be between the age of 25 and 40, and be involved in a profession of some sort. The Group Study Exchange Program is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for business people and professionals who are in the early stages of their careers, he said. The program provides travel grants for these team members to exchange visits in different countries.

The visits like the one Leipprandt headed up last anywhere from four to six weeks, giving team members a chance to experience the host country's culture and institutions, observe how their vocations are practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships and exchange ideas.

Leipprandt said those who made the trip to Australia were selected through a competitive interview process in which the Rotary committee chooses who will represent a district.

The Pigeon Rotary Club that Leipprandt is a member of is in District No. 6310. That district includes Rotary chapters in Bad Axe, Harbor Beach and Sebewaing, along with chapters in Tuscola County, Frankenmuth, south to Durand, over to Owosso, Midland, Mount Pleasant and up through the Alpena area.

We had 14 applicants from our district for the Australia trip  it was a pretty exciting trip to get the chance to be a part of, Leipprandt said.

Chosen for the trip were Yvonne Brantley, a Michigan State Police trooper from the Bay City Post, Rusty Laurenz, a small business owner who works primarily with agricultural spreading of fertilizers, Megan McHenry, a marketing manager for MidMichigan Health with headquarters in Midland, and Bay Citys Craig Windt, a middle school social studies teacher. Michael Guza III of Pigeon was selected as an alternate but was not needed to make the trip.

The group spent four weeks in Australia, keeping plenty busy during their stay. In a typical four-week tour, the group participates in five full days of vocational visits, 15 to 20 club presentations, 10 to 15 formal visits and social events, two to three days at the district conference, three to four hours per day of cultural and site tours, and three to four hours per day of free time with their host families, so its a pretty full schedule of activities, Leipprandt said.

For each team member, the Rotary Foundation provides a round-trip airline ticket between the home and host countries. Rotarians in the host area then provide for meals, lodging and group travel within their district in Australia, customizing many of the stops to interests of a particular group member.

When we were looking at who to send on the trip we were looking for people who can be flexible and that can expand their knowledge of other cultures. I think some past travel experience would be helpful for a trip like this but not necessary, and someone who can bring their newfound knowledge from this experience and spread the word when they came back home, Leipprandt said People were chosen that Rotary felt had the opportunity to share their knowledge with others.

Leipprandt said the selection committee felt Windt was ideal due to the fact that hes a school teacher and could bring a lot of his experience back into the classroom.

Megan (McHenry) had a deep desire to learn about health care in another country and the differences between theirs and ours. Yvonne (Brantley), the same thing, she had a lot of questions and interest in the way things are done in Australia.

The Rotary group Leipprandt headed up left Michigan on Feb. 14 for its month-long stay in Australia.

Australia is such a big country, said Leipprandt who was amazed at how different the area was from rural Michigan.

The district the group visited was in the area of Sydney and New Castle. Its a very urban area  very different than here. In order to keep things into context it was important to compare it to a place like New York city, Chicago, or Washington, D.C., he said.

While the landscape was quite different, Leipprandt said language wasnt a barrier.

There werent a lot of differences like youd think. The people there were hard working, friendly and outgoing, he said. One thing I was impressed by was that a lot of people there volunteer. As a culture, they are very engaged in volunteer organizations.

Looking around at the landscape in the Sydney and New Castle area, Leipprandt said the scenery was awesome.

It was summer going into fall there. And Sydney was named the best city in the world for the second year in a row. That says a lot for the area, he said. It was clean and safe.

Leipprandt said the goal of the trip each year is to show people from another culture what people from rural Midwest America are like.

The big thing we learned while we were there was the Australians perception (of Americans) is built on what theyve seen on television. The comment was made to us that everyone in the U.S. carries a gun  thats what they see on TV and read. They think were a bunch of cowboys, Leipprandt laughed. That was a big deal to us to be able to show them what reality is here in the rural Midwest and we dont live like what they see on television.

Leipprandt said a highlight of the trip also was the opportunity to travel with and get to know the four people who made up the Rotary group. He said it was neat to share the experience with them, learning about them as they all learned about a different culture.

The group from Michigan returned home in mid-March after making a number of new friends and bringing home with them some pleasant travel experiences.

On Monday night, it was their turn to play host to the Aussies. The Pigeon Rotary, along with members of the Sebewaing Rotary chapter, welcomed a handful of Australians who made their way to Michigan as part of the Australian Rotary Group Study Exchange program.

The six-person Australian Rotary group spent Monday and Tuesday in Huron County touring places like Huron Casting in Pigeon. They stopped by the Sebewaing Rotary Club, toured Z-Star Dairy in Chandler Township and Scheurer Hospital in Pigeon. The visit to Michigan is identical to the one Leipprandt and his team members returned from in March.

The Australian group then went from Huron County to Bay City where they spent three days meeting with Rotary members and learning more about that area. The Australian group will spend four weeks in southeast Michigan.

Katrina Madden, of the Australian Rotary team, said Monday evening during a cookout hosted by the Pigeon Rotary at Thumb National Bank that everyone was very welcoming.

Its extremely different here (the landscape). I think we stood on the street corner here and only saw two cars pass, she said. Its so vastly different. The Australian Rotary team leader, Ian Faulks, said he felt his first impression of Huron Countys landscape was that its stunning.

Its a completely different world. I was quite taken by the wind turbines  theres the energy source of the future, said Faulks, noting wind turbines are an issue in Australia.

Faulks met Leipprandt during Leipprandts visit last month to Australia. Faulks spent Monday and Tuesday as Leipprandts house guest.

Im very passionate about GSE (Rotarys Group Study Exchange). It promotes peace and harmony and building friendships from one continent to another, he said.

Leipprandt said every year Rotary groups around the world host Group Study Exchange trips to other countries.

The trip this coming year (for the district Leipprandt is involved in) is to Thailand. Thats going to be an experience for whoever has the opportunity to go, he said. If anyone is interested between the age of 25 and 40, they can contact me or any Rotary club. Applications will start to be accepted in August.